Jo Davidson is an American composer, pianist, vocalist and music producer.
Her albums include My Healing (solo piano) 1999, Kiss Me There (2001), Merry Christmas & Happy New York (2002), The Simply Said Sessions (2004) and Piano Stories (solo piano classical compositions) 2015. Kiss Me There was a top 20 Modern AC hit on radio and received nationwide airplay with adds in markets such as WBMX (Boston), WSSR (Tampa), WKDD (Cleveland) and WVRW (St. Louis). During this time, Jo performed at radio shows and festivals along with Nelly Furtado, Alana Davis, Better than Ezra, The Go Gos, and others.
She has won songwriting awards in both the John Lennon and Billboard Song Contests as well as a Lionel Ritchie Songwriting scholarship to UCLA. Her music has been recorded by Melissa Manchester, Meat Loaf, Stephanie Mills and featured in film and television including Felicity, Tom & Jerry The Movie, Forever Lulu, Blossom, Friends To The End and more.
She began playing the piano by ear at age four and took lessons from the first to twelfth grade with a classical foundation. She began writing songs in elementary school. After moving from Ohio to Los Angeles at the age of 20, she was the house pianist for ballet companies as well as the pianist at Lee Strasberg Theatre in West Hollywood.
Jo has produced tracks for Jenny Bruce, Craig Wilson and Rachael Sage, including the song that won Rachael the grand prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Jo toured as keyboard player and backup singer for Susanna Hoffs.
She is also the former host and creator of the podcast, Zentertainment Talk Radio, where she interviewed guests like Marial Hemingway, Laura Hillenbrand, Norman Doidge, Martha Beck, Kelly Turner, Cynthia O/Neal, Immaculee Ilibagiza, John Perkins, Ashok Gupta, Kristine Carlson, Bernie Siegal, Shawn Johnson, Rick Hanson, Lisa Wimberger, Rachel Naomi Remen, Iyanla Vanzant, Candace Pert, Alison Levin and others.
Jo is also a survivor of long term M.E/CFS and other immune related conditions, and an advocate for people who face chronic illnesses including long haul covid, mitochondrial issues and more.
She is currently working on a book about her life along with stories from her Quaker and early Colonial families of America.
Jo’s ancestors are among the earliest settlers of Nantucket, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia (1610) and Rhode Island. She is related to three signers of The Declaration of Independence and abolitionists including Levi Coffin, John Woolman, Benjamin Lundy, Lucretia Coffin Mott, and more.
She comes from a long tradition of female Quaker ministers going back to her 9th great grandaunt, Hannah Feake Bowne (1637-1677) whose home is a museum today in Flushing, Queens.
Jo’s hobbies include photography with a focus on photographing historic homes, landscapes and gardens.